Henrik Schwarz - House Masters

Henrik Schwarz - House Masters
Henrik Schwarz may always be known as the man behind that Omar remix. Four years later, he's still doing the same trick, and it's still working. Schwarz's M.O. is to intricately construct tracks and remixes in knowing layers, purposefully building the tension and never letting anything be even a hair's width out of place. Sometimes this makes his music a little too predictable, a little too married to an upward arc, but it has also given rise to several modern club classics.

You couldn't really play more than one track from this compilation in a row, let alone try to listen to the whole thing in one sitting. In isolation, each one forms a perfectly dramatic moment that could define the peak of a set. But the cumulative effect of more than one leaves you in limbo too long, and after a while the formula wears thin. Like watching a whole series of 24 in one go, limitations rise quickly to the fore.

Dive in and dissect the offerings for your own ends and it's much more successful. What Schwartz—a laptop act who is slicker than most—does with gorgeous jazz-funk classics like Donald Byrd's "Think Twice" is quite remarkable. He makes every element in his arrangement dance for him, orchestrating them like some mad conductor. His tantrically teasing remix of Mari Bone's "Vuoi Vuoi Me" is also a highlight that has doubtless provided many dance floor moments since its release seven years ago. There's also a pop-leaning accessibility and crisp electronic sheen to these tracks that makes them easy to like and complete no-brainers for DJs looking to get emotional: the frosty, harpsichord melodies and hummed vocals of "Take Words In Return" (one of two Schwarz originals on the compilation) is a case in point.

Where some producers craft faceless tools, Schwarz makes precision weapons that will always stand proud in any set. That's no mean feat. And though not every one works (the endlessly filtered and pixelated chord vamps of "Sky" are particularly grating) you could never accuse Schwarz of being lazy or phoning in his work. Instead, this is painstakingly produced stuff that can really bring life to the dance floor.

More on Henrik Schwarz

Hailing from the southern part of Germany, Bodensee, Henrik Schwarz is a long time veteran in the German deep house scene. Djing was his first love, having built a reputation at major events in the early nineties. But a desire to breach musical and tec..
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